Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony

Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony

Titles

Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony

[cda 2016] [Cat. Breslau 1926, 17, no. 162]

Portrait of a Lady

[cda 2010]

Female Portrait, allegedly Sibylle of Cleve

[Cat. Breslau 1886, 32, no. 162]

Painting on beech (Fagus sp.)

Medium

Painting on beech (Fagus sp.)

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]
[Klein, Report 1997]

Half-length portrait of a woman facing to the left against a light blue background. She wears a white bonnet and a black bodice trimmed with ermine. She had a necklace with a large pendant decorated with precious stones and pearls around her neck. Her arms are crossed at the bottom

Half-length portrait of a woman facing to the left against a light blue background. She wears a white bonnet and a black bodice trimmed with ermine. She had a necklace with a large pendant decorated with precious stones and pearls around her neck. Her arms are crossed at the bottom of the painting.

Since 1932 the painting is considered to be a copy of the 'Portrait of Barbara, Duchess of Saxony, the wife of Georg the bearded, Duke of Saxony', in the Collection of D. G. van Beuningen, Rotterdam.

[Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932, 91, No. 333]

Attributions
Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder
Lucas Cranach the Elder

Attributions

Workshop Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Exhib. Cat. Wrocław 2017, no. 28] [Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Lucas Cranach the Elder

[Cat. Breslau 1886, 32, no. 162]
[Cat. Breslau 1926, 17, no. 162]

Production date
after 1537

Production date

after 1537

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Dimensions
Dimensions of support: 36.9 x 23.9 cm

Dimensions

  • Dimensions of support: 36.9 x 23.9 cm

  • Dimensions including frame: 43.3 x 30.8 cm

  • [Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Signature / Dating

Artist's insignia on the ground: winged serpent with elevated wings; in black paint.

Signature / Dating

  • Artist's insignia on the ground: winged serpent with elevated wings; in black paint.

Inscriptions and Labels

Reverse of the panel: - left below the centre:
label: 'Staatliche Museen Berlin - Gemäldegalerie/ Katalog-Nr. 1312/ Cranach -Werkst./ …

Inscriptions and Labels

Stamps, Seals, Labels:

  • Reverse of the panel: - left below the centre:

  • label: 'Staatliche Museen Berlin - Gemäldegalerie/ Katalog-Nr. 1312/ Cranach -Werkst./ Barbara von Sachsen'

    • beneath:

  • label: 'F 1624/36'

    • on the left:

  • two seals

  • [Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Owner
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
Repository
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
Location
Berlin
CDA ID
DE_smbGG_1312
FR (1978) Nr.
FR414A
Persistent Link
https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1312/

Provenance

  • 1874 acquired with the Suermondt Collection
  • 1878 given to the Silesian Museum der Bildenden Künste, Breslau

[Gemäldegalerie, revised 2010]

Exhibitions

Berlin 1931, 611
Berlin 1937, 40, no. 110
Berlin 1973, no. 28
Wrocław 2017, no. 28

Literature

Reference on page Catalogue Number Figure / Plate
Exhib. Cat. Wroclaw 2017 156-157 028 Fig. p. 157
EditorEwa Houszka, Marek Pierzchala
TitleModa na Cranacha, Muzeum Narodowe we Wroclawiu, 31.10.2017-30.12.2017
Place of PublicationWroclaw
Year of Publication2017
Show Literature
Heydenreich 2007 A 402
AuthorGunnar Heydenreich
TitleLucas Cranach the Elder
Place of PublicationAmsterdam
Year of Publication2007
Link https://lucascranach.org/application/files/6116/2097/3099/Heydenreich_2007_Lucas_Cranach_the_Elder.pdf
Show Literature
Cat. Berlin 1996 35 Fig. 86
AuthorRainald Grosshans, Henning Bock
EditorStaatliche Museen zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie
TitleGemäldegalerie Berlin. Gesamtverzeichnis
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1996
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1979 154 No. 414A
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
EditorG. Schwartz
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBasel, Boston, Stuttgart
Year of Publication1979
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1973 No. 28
AuthorWilhelm H. Köhler, Frank Steigerwald
TitleLucas Cranach. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Druckgraphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1973
Show Literature
Exhib. Cat. Berlin 1937 40 110
EditorStaatliche Museen, Berlin
TitleLucas Cranach d. Ä. und Lucas Cranach d. J. Gemälde, Zeichnungen, Graphik
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1937
Show Literature
Friedländer, Rosenberg 1932 333
AuthorMax J. Friedländer, Jakob Rosenberg
TitleDie Gemälde von Lucas Cranach
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1932
Link http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/friedlaender1932
Show Literature
Cat. Berlin 1931 611
EditorKaiser-Friedrich-Museum, Berlin, Irene Kunze
TitleBeschreibendes Verzeichnis der Gemälde im Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum und Deutschen Museum
Place of PublicationBerlin
Year of Publication1931
Show Literature
Cat. Breslau 1926 17 162
AuthorHeinz Braune, Erich Wiese
TitleKatalog der Gemälde und Skulpturen. Schlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste Breslau. VI Auflage
Place of PublicationBreslau
Year of Publication1926
Show Literature
Nasse 1910 100
AuthorHerrmann Nasse
TitleGemälde aus der Sammlung des Dr. Fr. Wilh. von Bissing zu München
JournalMünchner Jahrbuch der bildenden Kunst
Issue5/6
Year of Publication1910
Pages94-114
Show Literature
Cat. Breslau 1908 23 162
AuthorRobert Kahl
TitleSchlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste zu Breslau. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Gemälde
Place of PublicationBreslau
Issue5th Edition
Year of Publication1908
Link https://sbc.org.pl//dlibra/metadatasearch?action=AdvancedSearchAction&type=-3&val1=Title:%22Beschreibendes+Verzeichnis+der+Gem%C3%A4lde.+Schlesisches+Museum+der+Bildenden+K%C3%BCnste+zu+Breslau.+%5C-+5.+Aufl%22
Show Literature
Cat. Breslau 1886 32 162
AuthorRobert Kahl
TitleSchlesisches Museum der Bildenden Künste zu Breslau. Beschreibendes Verzeichnis der Gemälde
Place of PublicationBreslau
Year of Publication1886
Show Literature

Research History / Discussion

Before 1932 the sitter was presumed to be Sibilla, the wife of Johann Friedrich, Elector of Saxony

According to the catalogue entry in [Cat. Breslau 1926, 17, no. 162] the sitter had at this stage already been identified as Barbara, duchess and wife of Georg the Bearded of Saxony.

[cda 2020]

  • Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony, after 1537

Images

Compare images
  • overall
  • overall
  • overall
  • reverse
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • analysis

Documents

Technical studies

2010Technical examination / Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology
  • reverse

Support

- beech wood

- the panel consists of one plank. 135 annual rings were counted, which can be assigned to the years beween 1525 and 1391. The earliest felling date is 1525, thus allowing for a minimum of two years seasoning the panel could not have been painted before 1527.

Paint Layers and Gilding

Reverse:

- black glaze

  • written by Christine Unsinn

17.02.1997Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

  • analysed by Peter Klein

03.10.1989Scientific analysis

  • Identification of wood species / Dendrochronology

Support

  • written by Peter Klein
  • X-radiography
  • x_radiograph
  • x_radiograph
  • created by Fotowerkstatt, Gemäldegalerie, Berlin

Citing from the Cranach Digital Archive

Entry with author
<author's name>, 'Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1312/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})
Entry with no author
'Portrait of the Duchess Barbara of Saxony', <title of document, data entry or image>. [<Date of document, entry or image>], in: Cranach Digital Archive, https://lucascranach.org/en/DE_smbGG_1312/ (Accessed {{dateAccessed}})

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